The present invention relates to a device for selectively cleaning the head of a golf club or for cleaning the surface of a golf ball and is intended for use either at a fixed location on a pedestal or other horizontal member, or for mounting on a vertical wall, or in the alternative may also be mounted on a golf cart for immediate access regardless of the location of the cart as it is moved around a golf course.
Prior to the instant invention, golf clubs have normally been cleaned by using a hand brush or wet rag and a bucket of water, wherein the face of the club is hand cleaned by a few cursory wiping motions of the brush or cloth along the face of the club. This rather rudimentary style of cleaning the face of a club has never been satisfactorily accepted, since bag room personnel are usually to busy in their normal activities to devote the time and effort that is required for hand cleaning the clubs prior to the removal of a player's golf bag from a cart or caddy for transfer to the storage area of a bag room. In such circumstances, it has often been the experience of players to find that when they reuse their clubs in the next round, the clubs are usually dirty, and the grooves in the club irons are filled with dirt and the club heads are generally messy in appearance. If a player cleans his own clubs, he generally does not have access to cleaning implements on the golf course or around a club house, and usually forgets to clean the clubs when they are stored at home or in the trunk of a car.
In some instances, golf club cleaning devices have been installed in and around bag storage areas, but even these prior known devices have been unacceptable, since they have not been found to satisfactorily remove the dirt and grime that adhere in the grooves of the club irons. Even the woods through constant usage become effaced with dirt, and the technique used to clean both the irons and woods by the prior known cleaning devices have just not been satisfactory.
Some examples of the prior known cleaning devices as represented by prior issued patents are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Hoag U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,534; Kinsey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,851; Wyckoff et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,358; Parchment et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,952; and Caradonna, U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,839. The Hoag patent which discloses a golf club head washer having a motor driven brush assembly located in a cleaning chamber may be effective in use, but because of the bulk and complicated structure of this device, it is not practical for use away from a bag room area, and is certainly not economically available for use by the individual golfer. The patent to Kinsey which is water driven needs a supply of water for the operation thereof and for this reason has limited application and actually does not include the type of brush element that would satisfactorily clean a club head. The patents to Wyckoff et al, Parchment et al, and Caradonna are those type of devices that may be portable in operation and could even be found in various areas of a golf course, but require the vertical movement of the golf club between the adjacent brushes as incorporated in these devices. For all of these reasons, the patented devices are not acceptable as effective cleaning aids for golf clubs and further, are not universal in use in that they cannot also function to clean the face of a wood golf club.
It is further contemplated that the subject invention be usable as a ball washing device, and in this connection utilizes the brush members as located in a housing to effectively clean a ball upon movement of the brushes. Golf ball washing devices are generally known and examples of such devices are illustrated in the U.S. Pat Nos. to Day, U.S. Pat. No. 784,662; Strong, U.S. Pat. No. 1,780,850; Signorini, U.S. Pat. No. 1,862,437; King, U.S. Pat. No. 1,469,274; Haskins, U.S. Pat. No. 2,195,303; and Benkovsky, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,574. All of these aforesaid listed U.S. patents are directed specifically to devices for cleaning golf balls and incorporate some kind of cleaning implement such as brushes that are rotated to effect the cleaning of the surface of a golf ball that is placed in contact therewith. None of these prior known devices show or illustrate a combination unit as developed by the applicant herein, and further do not disclose or show the specific manner in which the subject invention provides for the cleaning of the surface of a ball that is placed in contact with the brush elements that are disposed in the housing of the subject invention.